In recent years, the average acreage of individual farms has continually increased. To efficiently process the greater acreage, modern farming implements have correspondingly increased in size to maximize the number rows that can be planted, treated, harvested, or otherwise processed with each pass of the farm implement. However, the corresponding increased weight of modern farm implements can compact the soil or planted crops beneath the undercarriage of the farm implement, which can hinder planting or damage crops. As such, processing of fields is often limited or delayed until planted crops reach sufficient size to survive compacting by undercarriage of the farm implement.
To accommodate the additional weight, farm implements can often be fitted with rubber track undercarriages that distribute the weight of the farm implement over a larger surface area. The increased floatation provided by the rubber tracks reduces compaction of the soil and crops allowing more frequent and earlier use of the farm implements. However, while rubber tracks are advantageous for moving the heavy implement across loose soil or a planted field, the rubber tracks are susceptible to damage when traveling on tarmac.
Farm implements are frequently driven on roads when being transported between fields. The residual heat of the road or the heat generated from friction between the rubber track and the tarmac can destroy or greatly reduce the effective life of the rubber track. Also, roads are often rounded or crowned to angle the road surface causing precipitation to run off the road. Typically, the road surface is angled downward from a center apex of the road such that precipitation runs off the sides of the road. The angling of the road surface and the large width of the farm implement can cause only a portion of the rubber track to contact the road concentrating the weight typically distributed across the entirety of the rubber track within the limited contacting portion. The increased friction between the contact portion and the road can cause localized heating increasing the wear rate at which the contact portion. Also, concentrating the weight within the contact portion reduces the overall weight that can be supported by the support structures of the rubber track.